wisdom comes with age
by Alarnia
Summary: Its the final battle between the Uchiha brothers. Sasuke must come to terms with his growing maturity as both of them are given a second chance at life. rated T for future chapters. Shounen-Ai, not going to be updated
1. Chapter 1

Because nobody ever really reads this, I'm going to try to make this quick, more details at the end of the chapter. I don't own anything to do with Naruto, except for this fanfiction idea. characters are property of Kishimoto-sensei, because if they weren't I would totally make Itachi stop being a prick to his brother. D:

---- Chapter 1 ----

A kunai clashed as two more missed both of their throwers. They had been fighting for hours now, at the Uchiha's hideout, and both showed signs of tiring. How Ironic it would be, that after all of Sasuke's unforgivable efforts, and despite Itachi's weakening of age as well as his Mangekyou Sharigan, That They were evenly matched.

Sasuke charged at his brother, fist raised intently, his superior speed allowed him to grip Itachi's Akatsuki robe. But Itachi grabbed Sasuke's fist in the palm of his hand, and slowly brought his other hand up to cover the other gripping his uniform.

Sasuke glared as he gripped Itachi's cloak tighter, threatening to be torn. He tried to fight his brother's hold on his hands, but they seemed unbreakable. The younger brother thought they felt too warm for his frozen cold memories of his sibling. As Sasuke's frustration grew, he burst out, "Why did any of this have to happen, you bastard! We could have grown up together, but you destroyed everything!" But Sasuke left his deeper thought unsaid, _even my heart_.

As Sasuke fought his brothers hold more fiercely, his fist was released and he brought it back to punch Itachi. His brother caught the fist again just as it touched his chest, and deflected it. Itachi just stood there. He was too stoic for how Sasuke wanted to remember him as.

Again, Sasuke tried to fight off his brother's hold, but it was half hearted this time. He loosened his fist to grip the Akatsuki cloak. Sasuke looked at the sanguine clouds and was for a moment reminded of that world of torture that his older brother used so often in battle.

Sasuke looked at his brother, he had tilted his head down, what was that?! How dare he not meet his eyes after what he had done to him? The frustration got to Sasuke like fingers rubbing a thin nylon sheet. "Look at me, bastard!" Sasuke yelled as he attempted to shake his brother back and forth.

His brother moved a little, so it did not have the satisfying effect Sasuke sought after. Sasuke felt a lump form in his throat. He bowed his head till his forehead rested on his brother's chest, and he let out a poorly stifled sob.

"I hate you..." Sasuke said feebly  
"Sasuke," Itachi finally verbalized. Sasuke grit his teeth. He felt strange, his brother felt too warm, and he wondered if would he would move his arms further to complete the embrace they had clumsily made.

Sasuke felt his older brother's fringe tickling the top of his head; he supposed Itachi had lowered his head further. But he definitely felt his brother's hand moving down his forearms to grasp him just above his elbows. Sasuke's shoulders shook as a few more tears leaked out.

Instead of falling like a normal tear, one stubbornly slid down his jaw line, his nape, to settle on his collarbone. Itachi paused, then brought his left arm up further, and onto Sasuke's half clad shoulder. His white kimono was barely staying on from the hours of fighting. Then, as Itachi moved his hand to wipe away the stubborn cumulous, Sasuke temporarily stopped breathing. Sasuke was so intent on not letting out a sound, he barely noticed the pause of movement in his brother's own breath. Itachi's warm hands barely grazed his skin as he wiped the moisture away.

Sasuke fought his brother's hold once again who seemed to be lost in Thought. Sasuke pulled his head up to find his forehead touching his brothers and he saw his eye's become resolved. Itachi brought his left hand even further upward to cup his little brother's jaw and he used his thumb to wipe away the rest of his foolish little brother's tears. Sasuke splayed his free hand on his brother's chest in an attempt to push him away and tried to move his face away from Itachi's hand. Unsurprisingly, Itachi's hold was absolute.

"I hate you Itachi" Sasuke said once more as the said man brought his face closer his own.  
"I hate you too, little brother" Itachi said in return as his hand moved to the back of the said boy's skull and pulled him into a gentle kiss.

Initially, Sasuke fought to break the kiss, but when his brother used his right arm to pull him into a hug and pressed his lips more firmly, his confusion and anxiety began to ebb away.

After a few moments, He opened his mouth for a sip of air, and Itachi's tongue touched the inside of his lip. Sasuke's breath hitched and he opened his mouth a little wider, and the tip of their tongues touched. Sasuke moved his (now free) hands to reach around Itachi to clutch at his brother's back Tightly, so that their bodies were flush against each other. The pair clung to each other as the kiss grew deeper and more passionate. Sasuke tilted his head into Itachi's hand as it stroked his face gently.

It seemed to end too soon when they broke apart, and Sasuke suddenly felt ashamed.

"Why?" Sasuke asked quietly.  
"I believe I explained that to you long ago,"  
"No, why kiss me?! We've both agreed that we hate each other!"  
"…"  
"You said that you loathed our clan; that your brotherly adoration was an illusion! This just another of your tricks to create an opening!" Sasuke accused.

"This kind of trick would be entirely undesirable… long ago I thought everyone in the clan arrogant, and undeserving of the talents in our genes." Itachi reasoned  
"You can't possibly expect me to believe that you've changed your mind or I regret my actions," Sasuke said bitterly.

"If there is one other person who has shown me that they deserve their birthright--"

"Don't--!"

"It would have to be you, for surviving so long in this harsh world, and this fight, so far."

" You killed mother and father--!"

"Did they ever show much interest except as a replacement?! The Uchiha clan treated everyone like a tool, and when they thought one became too dangerous or overused, they would simply replace it."

"Mother never--"

"Foolish brother, that woman may have loved us on some level, I had believed her act for a time. But I soon realized that their marriage was tense.--"

"But--"

"I assume she did her husbands wish, of keeping a veil over our eyes, with out much complaint. We were like a symbol of her slavery. --"

"She--"

"She couldn't openly contradict father, but I suppose manipulating us was a some form of consolation for her, she always was a rather sly woman."

"Stop interrupting me!" Sasuke cried indignantly.

"Sasuke!" Denka the Ninja cat appeared next him. A surprised expression appeared on itachi's face but was wiped away just as quickly. "you've been in contact with the Elder cat?"  
" Denka, what is it?" Sasuke ignored Itachi's question.  
" Konoha is almost here, they've been following your scent!" Denka said with a mewl.  
_  
_

_If Konoha catches either of us we'll be executed, it doesn't matter what Naruto does, _sasuke thought.

"We need to get out of here itachi,"  
"It would be for the best if we continued our conversation elsewhere then." Itachi agreed

All three of them looked towards the entrance when they heard naruto and Sakura arguing outside.

_Honestly you'd think they had learned to be a little stealthier by now_, sasuke thought.

"Follow me," itachi said, and he covered the area with a genjutsu to cover their tracks.  
"Denka, do me a favor and go distract those idiots the best you can!" sasuke called back as he ran after Itachi.  
"Yes Sir! But I better get some more catnip for this!" and Denka disappeared once again.

--------------

Itachi broke the silence during their journey when he said, "I thought you would have wanted to stay with your friends, little brother."

Sasuke almost missed his branch, and as he jumped off again, he managed to hide his surprise.

"Why would I want to go back to those Friendship loving idiots?" Sasuke muttered, a bit miffed by his older brother's question. "They've tried to assassinate me already. If I went back to them, I would be executed on the spot."

that awkward silence moved in again and Sasuke listened to rhythmic sound of the two of them jumping from branch to branch.

Tah

_Why aren't I using this opportunity? his back is turned! He is my enemy! he killed my family!_

Zah

_But many years have passed since then. he's grown, I've grown; none of this seems worth it anymore… I see now what Brother meant by the Uchiha clan being arrogant… power hungry, even_.

Tah

_ wouldn't that describe Itachi perfectly…? _

Zah

_But Itachi , like me, is not the same person anymore. How many years has it been since that day? Wasn't Itachi 13 at the time? that's younger than me!_  
It hurt for Sasuke to be reminiscing about these things. _I should stop. I can't be distracted incase I'm attacked…_

And the silence resumed…

Tah--Zah. Tah--Zah. Tah--_Zaaah_.

"we're almost there, stay alert" Itachi warned

Sasuke then finally realized that he had no Idea where they had been heading this entire time.  
Feeling a flush tinge his ears, sasuke asked, " where are we going?"  
"one of the many Manors that the Uchiha clan thought they needed scattered about Japan."  
"oh," Sasuke felt dumb saying only that, so he added "Are you sure that no other ninja villages know about it?"  
"no I'm not sure, despite the Uchiha clan being notorious for keeping secrets," Itachi deadpanned. "we'll have to lay low their for a while, to make sure we aren't being followed."

Tah-_Zaaah_!

"what was that genjutsu you put over the hideout?"  
"to anyone who entered, it would appear that you killed me and then yourself…"

Sasuke thought that might work, but he didn't think he would kill himself after winning… but he was feeling kind of helpless after realizing that his life purpose was entirely pointless…

Tah_-Zaaah!_

"Oh, their it is!" sasuke exclaimed. Through the thick tree trunks Sasuke could see the roof of what looked like a reasonably sized old Japanese style manor.

Sasuke sped up with an air of a small child who was excited to get something over with, and when he passed his older brother, Itachi gave a small smile.

--------------

In my frustration of thinking of dialogue (which is by far the hardest thing for me to do, besides lemon and citrus) I wrote this interlude:

"I can't NOT make this sound CORNY!!!" D: Itachi whined  
"Mega Sadface!!!!" Sasuke exclaimed  
"Uninspired dialogue!!!" said Itachi  
"DO NOT WANT!!!" said sasuke

To those of you who do not know, _Tah_ and _Zah_ are the sound effects in the manga that represent landing and jumping off again.

so I finally finished the first chapter! I tried not to end it on too much of a cliffhanger because those are annoying, but I've found if a story is written well enough, any ending can be a cliffy, so its useless... I've only written one fanfiction before this, but it was terrible and I abandoned it after the second chapter. this was originally going to be a short one-shot, but with encouragement from my friends and an idea for a plot has gotten me writing. I also needed a break from all the snarry and severitus that I've been reading, that AYLNO series needs to hurry up and get updated! D: 

Please don't whine to me about make-out scenes or those of the like. even though I've read fanfiction a lot, I've yet to be kissed by anybody so I have no idea how to really describe it.

critique is appreciated, so review please! give me your feedback.

"this is awesome, update soon!" just puts pressure on me and is NOT appreciated, I don't respond well to pressure.

I'll try to update as much as possible, but I've got an idea for a doujinshi to work on, as well as a comic (WIP), and school to worry about.

Next: sasuke and itachi set up their lives in the old manor. and they continue their conversation. and what happened to Denka?


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto and its characters belong to kishimoto-sensei

Chapter 2

Denka really disliked his job, but it paid well. He was given a simple task; all he had to do was be distracting, so, as he leapt silently towards the opposition, he thought of a plan. He_ would_ need to be careful though. He was only a cat, hardly a real threat, but he hadn't been able to make anyone a scratch post for a while…

Nearing the group he smelt them, _two women, four guys, one weird smelling guy and two_--

_DOGS!_ Denka thought as the snarling giant sprung upon him. But then the other dog appeared next to him and called the other off.

But he wasn't a dog…

At least, he doesn't look like one," No Akamaru! Heel!" shouted Kiba as the other six shinobi landed around Denka.

_I guess I'll have to improvise_…

"Its just a Cat!" Sakura pointed out.

_Bingo_, thought Denka. When the pink haired girl leant forward, Denka jumped up onto the girls shoulder with a meow. Denka began to purr as he snuggled into the girl's hair.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Said the girl when she grabbed Denka and hugged him tightly to her chest.

"Sakura don't hug him! That cat is really suspicious, what's he doing out here in the middle of nowhere?!" Naruto said loudly.

Denka mewed and looked at Naruto. Then he jumped into his arms.

"Eh? Um.. Well he is kind of cute…" said Naruto, but when Denka crawled into his sweater he quickly changed his opinion.

Naruto made all sorts of disgruntled expressions as Denka squirmed his way slowly out of the boy's sweater. But everyone immediately noticed the pouch of explosives, which was once on Naruto's person, in the cat's mouth.

Denka tossed the bag into the air with a smirk, activated the contents of the bag and teleported away.

"Naruto this all your fault!" shouted a few of the shinobi as the bag exploded.

And so Konoha was thwarted by nothing more than a mischievous kitten.

------------------

When Itachi and Sasuke arrived, they found the mansion in near ruin. Overgrowth, kudzu, and weeds threatened to devour the house. Cobwebs were found every two feet. It took them another five minutes to find and entrance, but the door wouldn't budge. They found a bird's nest tucked away in the groove of the sliding door.  
_ If there is a tanuki inside when we get this door open then so help me I'm going to_… Sasuke thought bitterly

Three minutes later, with the smaller of the two (sasuke) struggling to reach the nest, found the door half open.

When Sasuke stepped in after Itachi, he wished he hadn't taken his shoes off. Spider-webs donned the ceiling like stalactites, and the dust felt grungy in-between Sasuke's toes.  
"I daresay we'll be doing a lot of cleaning during our stay…" he said in a defeated tone.  
"Its not like we need to clean the entire house, we aren't going to be living in all of it." Itachi said optimistically  
"I never thought you to be the kind to grasp at straws…" sasuke teased  
"Before we were interrupted, what were you going to say?" Itachi asked. Straight to business then, Sasuke thought.

Sasuke wondered how to phrase his question when he realized something.  
"You never said why you kissed me!" sasuke said, "You only explained that you thought I deserved the Sharingan…"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Itachi said with an annoyed note in his voice. " I don't think it is reasonable that we should kill each other at this point."

"I don't hate you; Believe it or not, I regret not being a better brother for you."

"But you don't regret killing our clan?"

"No, they still deserved it."

_I guess I should just take what I can get; remembering back now, they probably did deserve to die_. Sasuke thought.

"But why did you _kiss_ me, of all things?" sasuke pressed. He could feel a flush crawling up his neck.

"Actually, I'm not sure why."  
"What?!"  
"I was just trying to get you to stop blubbering, you were acting like a teenaged girl. It was the first thing I could think of honestly." itachi explained, but he added, "It didn't work though…"  
"So you say you hate me and then kiss me!"  
"What do you think I should've said? Should I have quoted some cheesy romance movie?"  
_ Put that way_, sasuke thought, _I can't really complain_.  
"So then the kiss was completely pointless and spontaneous?"  
"Yes"  
"Then I suppose we can agree to forget it ever happened and move on with our lives?"  
"Agreed"  
"Ok then" and sasuke walked off to explore the building, the dust caking in-between his toes was a lesser evil compared to suffering another awkward silence with his brother.

----------------

Thirty-one rooms later, sasuke found himself lost on the other side of the manor. He had decided to do a mental log on the rooms he had found. Currently he was standing inside a small garden, or, at least what used to be a garden. He was leaning against a gnarled pomegranate tree. He could only tell that it was a pomegranate tree because it had several ripe ones hanging from its branches. One of them had fallen on his head, and he was currently picking at it in an attempt to get rid of the copious amount of seeds so he could eat it.

All the rooms were empty of furniture so he couldn't be too descriptive about them. Seven kitchens and twelve bathrooms, (he could tell because they had their sinks and plumbing installed.) The rest were just nondescript rooms, but a lot of them had their own little Japanese porch. Itachi and Sasuke had been lucky they had found the actual front door on their first try, because there were far too many entrances. _A person could enter the house from virtually any angle, Not exactly a strategically safe place_, Sasuke thought.

_But honestly the state of this place!_ Sasuke felt exasperated, he had actually found a small skeleton of some kind of animal (he wasn't sure if it was a tanuki though). _It probably got stuck in here and died…_

_I wonder if I'll die here too, stuck with my brother_…

_But maybe… if the entire world thinks were dead… he said he wished he had been a better brother to me.  
Maybe we could._

Both of them, forgotten by the world, could start over and find a better life, together they could regain what they had left behind. Family, once again…

That hopeless, purposeless feeling that sasuke had been feeling lifted, just a little. But to Sasuke it felt tremendous.

-------------------- (should I end it here? Nah)

Sasuke had finally finished his pomegranate when Itachi found him; the sun was setting. Itachi looked critically at him.

"What?" sasuke asked, a little self-conscious.  
"You've got red all over your face." Itachi deadpanned  
"What? Oh, it's the pomegranate," Sasuke dug a spare bandage out of his ammo pouch, poured a little water on it from his canteen and began cleaning the sticky pomegranate juice off his face.

"Those cat ninjas came back just now, they're looking for you"  
Sasuke finished wiping his face and answered, "Why didn't they just smell me out?"

"Its probably too dusty,"  
"Yeah," sasuke said. He figured they could probably hear pretty well so he called out to them, "Hey Denka, Hina! I'm over here!"

And soon enough small catlike blurs were making their way toward him.  
"Sasuke, where's my pay?" Denka hissed "I almost got eaten by a dog that was ten times my size!"  
Sasuke sighed, "so much for paying off debts… listen Denka, Hina can ask you two a favor…?"  
"Ha! forget it, if you can't pay us then don't bother!" Denka scoffed  
"Don't worry, I'm sure we can work something out, but Me and Itachi… we can't be going out in public incase someone recognizes us…"  
"What are you getting at?" Hina asked.  
"I believe my little brother is asking if you could bring us supplies about every… Week or so? That shouldn't be too inconvenient…" Itachi offered, but in a much more menacing tone.  
"Ah--"  
"Well…"  
"I'm sure we could get some bargain going, like…" sasuke offered; he looked around, the garden area would be great for growing herbs or something… _god no, what has the world come to_? Sasuke's expression looked horrified. He slumped and sank to the ground.

"What is it?" asked Hina

"Reduced to drug dealing, to_ cats _of all things…"

"Huh?" Denka meowed.   
"Oh," Denka and Hina looked around, upon seeing the wide space that they now identified to be a garden, they stretched their little cat faces into smirks.  
"Yes, we could definitely work something out…"  
"We could bring you your supplies every week and some seed at first, and in return you will grow us our catnip so we can sell it." Hina said with pleased tone.  
"So are we agreed?"  
"We need some cleaning supplies soon, but other than that we are agreed" Itachi said, and stuck out his hand for the two cats to shake.

And the deal was sealed.

"Pleasure doing business with you, messing with Konoha was its own reward anyway." Denka waved and Hina and he ran off.

"I never thought I would see the day an Uchiha became a drug dealer to anyone." Itachi said in an amused tone.  
"…"  
"And of coarse you're the only one who's going to be doing that you realize? You brought the deal up so you hold up our end of the deal."

"What?!" Sasuke scrambled to his feet "Then of course you're the one who's going to be doing the house cleaning! And cooking to! I've got to weed and rake this entire lot before I can even start my new… business." Sasuke said bitterly.

"I wouldn't have trusted your cooking anyway, but keep the pomegranate tree, it has character." and Itachi turned and began to walk away.

"what? Hey! Don't leave, I'm not done yet with you!" Sasuke yelled, "what was with that, you just accepted the bargain for me! that's not fair--"

"we have to divide the work somehow if were going to manage, and this is the simplest solution for now." Itachi explained, he looked at the sunset , walked back to Sasuke to pick a pomegranate from the tree and walked back to the porch. "you should come inside, it will be dark soon. We can start working tomorrow."

Sasuke almost argued but had to suppress a yawn, so he followed his brother inside.

-----------------

and chapter 2 is finished yay! I forgot to mention this earlier but I started writing this before the fight between sasuke and itachi had actually started fighting. but they were both heading off to do just that. I started writing this just after chapter 367, I was very excited to finally see the long awaited fight, but a little sad to know that one of my favorite characters was going to die. so I wrote this story. originally it was only going to be a one-shot.

I am getting somewhere with their relationship, I don't like jumping into things suddenly, so I'm going to try and make it build up. I suppose the kiss' only purpose for now is setting up that this fic is not going to be a brotherly love thing in the end.

I've always found Incest to be a a sensitive subject, but when two people grow up apart, even if their siblings, and then come back togethor, it can be easy to develop romantic feelings. Because they never spent any time forming brotherly bonds, their is nothing preventing them from really developing those feelings. and any form of love is beautiful as long as its true.

Next: Spring cleaning! woe is the woman in Sasuke!


	3. Chapter 3

so chapter 3 is finally here! I tried to make it longer and ave more volume in general this time. but anyway, go start reading!

I do not own Naruto or its characters, I only hold ownership over this piece of writing. and its not like I'm making any money off this, so don't sue!

---Chapter 3---

Sasuke heard his back pop unpleasantly when he leaned back to admire his work. It was well into fall, but it was unnaturally hot today. He had shrugged off his pristine white kimono before starting so it wouldn't get stained. That was very early in the morning. All this grunt work reminded him of his days as a Genin in Konoha… of course he was still a genin, but that hardly mattered now.

Sasuke looked at the garden. He had finished the weeding, after realizing that burning it all wouldn't be a wise thing to do, and had started on planting the seeds Denka and Hina had brought with the other supplies. When Sasuke went in for lunch, he had the pleasure of spotting Itachi with a gasmask and handkerchief tied over his hair, his Robe was discarded and he had smudges of dust on his shirt. Sasuke stared for a few seconds, gob smacked, but when Itachi looked over at him he had a murderous yet mortified expression etched on his face, Sasuke backed out of the room with a muttered apology to compose himself.

He had still snickered just a little though. Thinking back now, Sasuke was lucky Itachi hadn't poisoned his lunch or something with bleach…

But god, He was definitely going to get a sunburn out here… sasuke wiped the sweat off his forehead and continued planting the questionable catnip seeds. It was unfortunate that they had forgotten to mention shovels in their agreement with the ninja cats, because it left sasuke digging the shallow holes with his bare hands. The dirt was soft and warm after having been weeded, so it wasn't necessarily hard to move. If Sasuke had a choice of occupation he would definitely prefer being a farmer, but where farming lacked in mortal threat and quick tiring rounds, it made up for in the long tedious slugging of the planting season alone. So, suffice to say, when sasuke arrived in the newly established "living room" that evening, He didn't even notice how it was lacking that layer of dust that would tickle ones toes unpleasantly. Sasuke collapsed on the floor in front of Itachi and didn't move until the next morning.

Not that Itachi didn't try to stop him.

Only a few minutes passed before Itachi sternly told Sasuke to get up, and when sasuke didn't respond he prodded him with his foot as if he were someone dead.

"Help me make dinner," Itachi said flatly

Food did sound good to Sasuke; he hadn't eaten in a while, but the only response that Itachi could see was a twitch, so he just left Sasuke on the floor to finally pass out from exhaustion.

--------------

When sasuke woke up, however famished, he was impatient to finally be done with the garden so he had a quick breakfast and went outside. Sasuke was a bit irritated that Itachi had just left him their on the floor, but it wasn't like they had and mattresses or blankets yet so that wasn't why he was angry. The position he had fallen in was awkwardly on top his kimono. After a night of sleeping like a log left it wrinkled and smudged with sweat and dirt. He knew he should have put some effort into cleaning himself first but he was just plain tired at the time…

He tossed his top to the side once again and, determined to finally finish the task, dug the rest of the holes, placed the seeds in them, and watered them with a quaint looking watering can he'd found.

There were still several hours before noon, so with nothing left to do, Sasuke left to find shelter inside.

Upon entering Sasuke found Itachi doing the same thing he was doing. Absolutely nothing. Well, Itachi was trying to find some nonexistent imperfections on his kunai so he might fix them, but this was just to keep is mind busy.  
Sasuke sat down on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. He asked Itachi "you finished cleaning?"  
"Yes"  
"What now?"  
"I suppose we'll figure that out along the way,"  
"I mean, do we have any long term goals?"  
"Aside from your abandoned goals for revenge?"  
"Hey, I still have a goal, I need to revive the clan!"  
"And you plan to do that how? With the rest of the world thinking were dead?" Itachi said with a hint of a smirk on his face.  
Sasuke had blushed faintly. He lowered his gaze in what Itachi interpreted as an attempt to hide his embarrassment.  
Itachi pressed his advantage, "and from the way you reacted to me earlier, that would definitely prove that your gay wouldn't it?"  
Shocked, sasuke responded in the first way he could think of, "no I'm not!"

"Blatant denial isn't becoming of you, little brother!" Itachi called back to his brother as he rushed out of the room.

"What's that about?" Denka asked as he and Hina appeared with some bedrolls and 2 blankets

Itachi didn't respond; he only slowly walked out of the room, following his little brother.

----------  
Sasuke kept running till he was sure nobody would run into him. He thought about what he had almost said, it was a very embarrassing thing to admit. It's true that he wasn't technically gay, but Orochimaru, damn him, had meddled a little too much with sasuke.  
It all began one day when Orochimaru got the bright idea in his head that with one Uchiha under his power, he could possibly get more. After having to thwart several prostitutes and explaining that the Sharingan is only passed down through the women in the Uchiha clan (which Sasuke was surprised Orochimaru had actually believed,) Sasuke thought He had stopped this ridiculous endeavor Orochimaru had schemed.  
Conveniently for Orochimaru, Sasuke had been seeing one of his doctors for various medical reasons. He subjected himself to surgery, performance enhancing drugs, not to mention being a regular test subject. All Orochimaru had to do is convince the doctor to do a little… extra during one of the surgeries.

So when Sasuke had woken up sterile on his masculine side and with a few extra feminine parts, he of course called out for blood. But Sasuke at that point wasn't quite able to best Orochimaru yet, and Orochimaru had stopped him from destroying the rest of their hideout in Wind Country.

Sasuke seethed inwardly as he recalled all this, he walked with a little more vigor than necessary. He would have to blame his turbulent emotions on the hormones that doctor had injected into him before he had ripped his esophagus out. That was to blame for Sasuke's sudden response to that notably masculine character who had kissed him.  
No, Sasuke technically wasn't gay, but he still thought of himself as a guy. So the thoughts of attraction towards other men made him feel very insecure indeed. It was like an extra large sticky note plastered to his forehead, constantly reminding him that maybe he was homosexual, at the most inopportune moments, if he only reacted to male forms in that way. Sasuke desperately convinced himself that this was only because of the effeminate chemicals coursing through his body…

Lately, Sasuke had been acting a lot more emotional than usual, and he wondered if that had anything to do with his body finally becoming used to its new condition. Sasuke wondered and he looked at his new surroundings, he was at the edge of the property. So continued to walk out into the dense forest.  
----------

Following Sasuke was a very easy thing for Itachi to do when the dust on the floor was thick enough to leave footprints. He took his time following them, but when the trail ended once it met grass at the edge of the property, Itachi shrugged and sat down to wait. Hopefully sasuke wouldn't be stupid enough to wander to far out for some stray ninja to pick up on his trail.

----------  
Sasuke sat down against the huge maple. He didn't recognize the area, and he was now lost. This was because he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings while he indulged in a treasured pastime, a brisk walk while brooding. He would need to find his way back because it was going to be dark soon, he could see that the moon had also risen early. (It barely peaked out from over the tree tops) barely noting it was a full moon simply out of principal. (A side effect of training so hard to become a ninja, certain things just became ingrained in your behavior, like drawing a kunai at a suspicious noise.)

Sasuke sighed, he couldn't send up a signal or someone other than Itachi might find him, if he was even looking for him, the bastard. He could try wandering back, but that might just result in wandering further away. Really his only hope would be that Itachi would find him and lead him back. It reminded him of that time when he was six. He had gone off to train with kunai, but he had gotten lost in the forest on the way to the target range and cried for about two hours before his brother had heard his sobs and rescued him. Sasuke had thanked him in the only way he really knew how, which was to smother him in innocent, doting, childish affection.

Sasuke made himself more comfortable against the tree and waited, keeping an eye out for movement.

----------

The moon; full, he noted to himself, was near the top of the sky now, and there was still no sign of Sasuke. So Itachi went out into the forest with an irritated sigh.

----------

Sasuke had just noticed something moving nearby when he felt something unpleasant trickle down the inside of his thigh.

Sasuke watched Itachi walk into the clearing but he was not actually paying attention to him. Slowly, Sasuke pieced things together, and found his answer to be rather unwanted. ((AN: okay no more talk about this subject plz ;;))

Sasuke then noticed that Itachi was speaking to him.

"Are you listening? You look like you've seen father." Itachi said in jest

"What were you saying?" sasuke asked, quickly calming himself down.  
Itachi just shook his head as if to say 'never mind' and began to head back

And sasuke followed him tiredly. Sasuke noted miserably that he still had hardly eaten anything at all today. His stomach reprimanded sasuke with a twinge of pain. Sasuke wondered if Itachi had eaten anything either.

----------

That morning sasuke started awake when he found Hina staring at him.

"What's wrong with you?"  
"Eh? Why are you even here?!"  
"I came to check on how well you were doing your job, but you've got a completely out of place smell on you so…" She said.

Sasuke lifted the blanket to check up on things and was, well, mortified.

"About that…"

"I don't want to know, but I suggest you explain things to itachi, who is outside doing your job because you wouldn't wake up. Ill bring you some things for your… problem later." Hina meowed tiredly as she walked away.

"Ah, wait!"  
"What?"  
"Uhm.. How does one.. Go about… solving this kind of problem?" Sasuke mumbled, beet red

Hina just stared deciding if this kind of lecture would be worth it in the long run, but she then sat down across from sasuke and gave him the girls version of 'the birds and the bees' talk. Sasuke making disgusted faces as well as ones of pure discomfiture.

Hina left, and when she came back Sasuke was still sitting up in his bedroll.

Sasuke got up, gathered his things and went to business. But sasuke paused when his stomach decided to remind him of its predicament. So Sasuke decided to put it first and quickly changed into a fresh pair of hakama. He stepped into the kitchen and ate whatever didn't need to be cooked, which turned out to be a tomato and some rice cereal.

When Sasuke finally stepped outside all he could do was stare.  
His brother was watering the garden, his shirt was discarded, and sasuke assumed he had been weeding out some of the new sprouts. There was a little dirt on his older brother's hands and chest.

It was time like these, when sasuke just wanted to walk up and touch, that he felt particularly guilty for harboring thoughts unbecoming of a male shinobi. But then I'm not really a… sasuke shoved the thought away in time, because Itachi had looked over at him and sasuke composed himself.

" Its about time you woke up," Itachi said in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry," but sasuke tensely, "I was going to do the laundry, do you want me to do anything of yours?"

Itachi waved in the general direction of his discarded shirt and turned his attention back to watering.

Sasuke went over and grabbed Itachi's shirt and then hurried along with his mound of fabrics towards the well, where Itachi had left the wooden tub after using it for cleaning; Sasuke didn't notice Itachi curiously looking at the bedroll in Sasuke's arms.

He was also unaware of Itachi's new resolve to not let him out of his sight. One could suppose it was merely his brotherly nature finally reemerging after so many years, coming out in his spying abilities. No, he wasn't a stalker, Itachi thought to himself. Even though that was exactly what he was doing.

But you can't really blame him, he was uncomfortable facing this new development and he would do his best to hide it from his little brother. The previous night, When Itachi waited for Sasuke's return, he felt that smidgen of fear that his little brother might have been captured. Even though He was a very capable Ninja, Sasuke would surely be executed once he was forced to return to Konoha. He had actually foolishly gone very far off last night. Itachi couldn't risk him running off again.

----------

Sasuke was all blushes as he scrubbed at the stains on his bedroll; his stained boxers and pants were already hanging up on a clothesline. Tied to the buildings support beams on both sides of him. The Hakama he had changed into was one size too big; it had been brought in by Hina with his other… supplies. They were white and matched the kimono that was currently still stained with sweat and dirt, covering his shoulders. The area was still covered in brush, as sasuke had not bothered to weed it, but it was not so bad. There were no tall grasses, only various kinds of ground covering plants like chickweed. The fauna was plush and wasn't so abrasive against his ankles as he stood on it. The clearing was moderately cool due to it being partially shadowed by a Haggard looking Maple at the edge of the clearing.

Eventually sasuke did as much as he thought he could do with the large stain on his bedroll and went to hang it up to dry. Sasuke took off his kimono and quickly washed the stains out as well. The sun was starting to beat down on him as he finally started on Itachi's top. Sasuke couldn't help cataloguing the sensations he got from it. Smooth but slightly worn, cotton, probably imported. He could smell the outer scents of dirt and sweat and that smell most guys have overall, a kind of musk. But there was a scent that sasuke couldn't quite identify; it was so faint. Sasuke buried his face into the soiled shirt and took a deep breath. Now that it was a little stronger, he it reminded him of Mt. Fuji and the smell that lingers after a heavy rain. Sasuke unconsciously snuggled deeper into his brother's shirt, he could feel himself calming after his stressful morning.

"What are you doing little brother?"

Sasuke jumped and quickly turned around. He could feel his face glowing with mortification. He just has perfect timing doesn't he? Has he been watching me this whole time? Sasuke thought cynically. There was his brother, half hidden in the shadows of the porch overhang. He sat leaning against a support beam, he had a calculating expression on his face.

"Ah, Big Brother! I was just about to start washing your shirt!"  
" It seemed like you wouldn't have started for a while if I hadn't stopped you from inhaling it. Does sweat really smell that good to you?"

"Um, well no… Let me just get started…" So sasuke turned around and dropped the shirt in the tub of water. Sasuke bent over slightly as he scrubbed the shirt against the washboard. He could feel Itachi's eyes burning holes in the back of his head and sasuke felt a drop of sweat go down his neck.  
Itachi's gaze followed sasuke as he went over to hang his brother's shirt. The weather was dry and windy, not nearly as hot as the days before but it was luckily perfect conditions for doing the laundry.

Sasuke turned to face his brother once again. What on earth were they going to do during their time here? He was edgy from the lack of activity.

"Is there any particular reason you followed me here?"  
"No,"

"Well than, since there is really nothing to do, would you like to go train?" sasuke said as he walked up to Itachi.  
Before sasuke could notice his brother had drawn his arm out and had poked sasuke on the forehead with his index and middle finger.  
"Forgive me sasuke,"

Sasuke had not flinched like when he was younger, it was nothing more than a loving tap compared to gaining the curse seal. But it stunned him nonetheless. He stood there and felt a warm sort of emotion start flooding his body. A tinge of blush painted Sasuke's face as he leapt onto his brother. He felt childishly giddy with happiness as he crushed his brother in a hug. Sasuke didn't notice both of their lack of shirts or that Itachi vainly tried to pry him off.

"How long has it been since you've done that?" sasuke said with a giggle in the back of his throat.

"How long has it been since you've needed me to tell you how to throw a shuriken?" Itachi returned quietly

"I still do, I never really got the hang of them like you did." sasuke said docilely. But Itachi didn't respond for a while. Sasuke did not dare to look up to see his brother's reaction. He eventually stood up with sasuke still wrapped around him and stepped in front of the tall old maple tree.

"Then after all this time then, let me show you." Itachi said calmly, and as if he were indulging in something he slowly pulled out a shuriken and placed it in Sasuke's hand. He stepped behind sasuke and came close to him so he might've been able to place his chin upon Sasuke's head. He placed his hands over Sasuke's and languidly guided sasuke in the ways to throw a ninja star.

While Itachi had an entirely placid expression on his face, Sasuke's was worlds different, he had a look of fierce concentration on his face. He wanted to memorize every feeling every minute motion of his fingers as his brother guided them. To completely absorb this moment in time incase it never came again. Sasuke's brow furrowed as they completed several more sets; eventually Itachi stepped away and he watched his sibling continue with perfect replicas of what he had been shown.

Sasuke eased into a standing position and turned around to face his brother. He felt dazed after becoming aware of every muscle tightening and loosening to throw the shuriken in a neat ark. Only to embed itself deeply into its target's bark. He absentmindedly noted the light flush coloring his face as he finally locked eyes with itachi.

Coal met ash and it stayed for a few minutes before the companionable silence was broken.

"Do you think we might be able to train together again tomorrow?" sasuke asked quietly.  
"I believe we will have plenty of time." itachi returned. There was another serene pause and sasuke said, "maybe we should go make dinner before we forget again…" Itachi looked up and saw that the sun was over the noon mark and was steadily approaching its end. Crickets were quietly beginning their symphonies as the two shinobi went back inside.

---------

The two now ate rice and boiled tomatoes together in the barren kitchen. They sat with a grateful and companionable silence; Potent after the chaos preparing dinner had brought. Both itachi and sasuke had gotten minor scalding burns because they had neglected to ever put their shirts back on, and still were not wearing them. Did they both have some instinctual knowledge that compelled them to do so? Perhaps, in providing fan service, to keep the fan girls at bay? But hey, look at me writing this, its not getting them very far.

But sasuke at least has acknowledges this embarrassing fact, and so he is pondering the most inconspicuous way to sneak back outside and get his kimono back. But alas, our hero/heroine is a bit too distracted by his oblivious brother's state of undress! Pause for dramatic effect…

And so the silence, at least for sasuke, becomes slightly uncomfortable. And Itachi finally asks sasuke that question that has been bugging him since he saw sasuke walked off to do chores that morning.  
"So, little brother, why did you feel the need to wash your bedroll this morning?"

Sasuke froze, "ah, well it got stained overnight…" but sasuke skirted around the real reason, and Itachi could tell.

"How did it get stained?" itachi pressed, as he set his empty bowl of rice and chopsticks down.

Sasuke sighed, it would have to come to this eventually, he thought. Sasuke thought that he should just get this over with, but that didn't make it anyless embarrassing. With a cherry tint painted over his cheeks, Sasuke related his tale of Orochimaru, the mad doctor, and the innocent to Itachi; his face paled further with every sentence.

When Sasuke finished he watched Itachi push what was left of his meal away. a look of disgust twisted his face. He turned his face away

"this is true? That monster… he just ordered for that to be done to you?"

sasuke nodded "I believe the recent events have been because my body was finally adjusted to its new conditions. I am beginning to come to terms with them."

"and you have already killed Orochimaru, I can not force any repentance on him…"

"oh, don't worry he isn't dead, he is permanently trapped in limbo. He is victim of his own technique. His poor soul is forever doomed to suffer the pain of a split soul, that is my justice" sasuke said this with a pleased tone, but then he added sadly "but I don't think I can be returned to normal… It might just make things worse."

"so then…" Itachi lifted his head to look sasuke in the eye.

Sasuke leaned forward with a slight contemplative expression. He rested his chin in his palm as he leaned on his elbow. Sasuke thought for a out of place moment, this is a bad table manner but ignored the stray strand.

"You are a girl," Itachi finally forced out his expression unidentifiable

"of sorts, yes, don't think I'm going to start acting like a house wife anytime soon though." sasuke said with a smirk, amused at his brothers discomfiture.

"but you don't exactly show it do you?" Itachi said. For a moment sasuke was confused as to what his brother was indicating, but when he caught his sibling's eyes glancing downward…

Sasuke flushed deeply and covered his chest with his arms, immediately sitting up straight. Sasuke looked down and felt common sense coming back to him.

"ah, no Orochimaru neglected to change anything up there, he probably didn't think it was necessary…" sasuke said nervously. Sasuke looked up in time to see two specks of color fade from his brother's face. Sasuke calmed himself down and forced his body to recognize that he was , in fact, despite his unwanted sex-change, mentally and bodily male and in the sprightly age of 15, so he did not need to cover himself like a girl.

Sasuke settled for merely crossing his arms in front of him in a businesslike manner.

"ah yes, well… of course," itachi said uncomfortably.

Feeling that this was a good end to their conversation, sasuke finished his dinner, washed his plates and went out to fetch his now dry clothing and bedroll with the satisfying feeling after eating his favorite food. (tomatoes)

Sasuke fell asleep that night feeling the occasional brush of Itachi's stare.

-------------

so there it is, what did you guys think? for a while my writing was getting dependednt on the dialogue to move things forward, and I didn't like that. I hope I managed to return it to its semi discriptive state that I enjot\yed writing with before.

well, the whole menstrual cycle sasuke goes through was a bit of a weird subject for me to be writing about, and nobody ever really writes about it realistically, if at all. Previously I think i got way to detailed with it, so when I went back over it, I thought, woah, nobody wants to really read this. so I made it more acceptable while still being understandable, to the older audience at least. the people who are not too young to be reading this. but those ratings don't stop little kids from venturing forth!

well I need to start writing the next chapter now, boy this story is progressing fast, I guess thats a good thing, because I don't think I'd have it in me to write 40 something chapters.

next: Im not so sure... nooo is writers block looming over me? not really because I have an idea of what to write about next, but I just can't really sum it up in 4 words.


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